The External Triggers For Change In Toyota

The External Triggers For Change In Toyota In today dynamic marketplace, change management has become a very vital element of the organisation development. Change doesnt not always imply innovation, thus, change is defined as a part of organisation invariably influence people and process of the organisation (Cole, 2008). The pace of global, economic and technological development makes change an inevitable feature of organisational life. Change can be classified into planned change and unplanned change. Unplanned change is a piecemeal reaction to circumstances as they occur. Whereas, planned change is change that is designed and implemented in an orderly and timely fashion in anticipation of future events (Hayes, 2002). For instance, the implementation of Just-In-Time (JIT) operation in the Toyota Production System (TPS) is considered as a planned change. It is because the adaption of JIT is gone through a planned and well-managed change process. Change is crucial to strategy and vision generation when organisation is preparing for the strategic planning process (Burnes, 2004). Change is an alternation of organisations environment structure, technology or people. Organisation often view change as a continuous process that they need to capture the learning and pass it on. The forces of change can be divided into internal and external forces. External forces include economic factors, and new market opportunity. By contrast, the internal forces inside an organisation can lead to a change (Griffin, 2003). Organisation need to clearly clarify the factors, which have triggered the changes. After that, a change management approach should be undertaken, which comprises of change management process, approaches adopted to minimise the resistance to change and an overall performance evaluation program of the change. History of Toyota Toyota Manufacturing Corporation (TMC) story starts, when Sakichi invented the wooden Toyoda handloom, which was to revolutionize the countrys textile industry. Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, which is now known as Toyota Manufacturing Corporation (TMC), was founded in 1918 by Sakichi Toyoda and Kiichiro Toyoda. Kiichiro Toyoda had travelled to Europe and the US in 1929 to research automobile production and begun researching gasoline powered engines in 1930. The 1st A1 prototype passenger car was completed in year 1935 (http: //www.toyota.co.uk). Toyota began its operation in Europe since the early 1960s. They attempted to design the car based on Europe market needs and wants. Further, Toyota had established a manufacturing plant operation in UK in year 1989 because of the strong tradition of vehicle manufacturing in UK and the large domestic market for their product (http://www.toyotauk.com). In year 2004, Toyota has become the one of the top three car manufacturer, alongside General Motor (GM) and Ford. Globalisation has forced Toyota to improve their business process to be more competitive in the global market. Toyota has established a clear vision 2010 Global Vision Strategy. The mission of Toyota is to create a more prosperous society through automatic manufacturing. Therefore, Toyota has to always focus on the future of the automobile industry when deciding the position of the company. The vision of Toyota aims to achieve long term, stable growth in harmony with the environment, the global economy, the local communities it serves and its stakesholder (http://www.toyota.co.jp). Forces for Change The external and internal forces have resulted in the need of change. The external triggers for change are derived from outside the organisation. The external triggers for change in Toyota: Globalisation The declination of barriers to the free flow of products and services had driven the trend of globalisation. Globalisation has opened up new market and created opportunity for business to expand their market share (http://news.bbc.co.uk). Increased Competition The increased the competition in the market has forced companies to improve their business operation to be more competitive in the market. For example, as a global player Toyota, frequently confront each other as competitors in nation after nation. Ford, for instance, has 5 car-design centres scattered around the world, each focus on specific market segment (Terpstra and Sarathy, 2000). As a result, change may occur. In this assignment, case regarding to the impact of change on TPS had changed the company policy, process, and decision making. Tough rivalry There are many aggressive competitors, such as Nissan, GM, Ford and so on. Most of them have established their own competitive advantages in the global market, thus, this may constraints Toyota to gain more market share in the global market (Hill and Jones, 1998). Thus, there a need of change for Toyota to create their competitive advantages. Low Demand The demand of consumers is low so Toyota needed to turn out low volume of different models using assembly line instead of supporting the dedicated assembly lines for one vehicle. Finally, Ohno developed the TPS, by adapting the Ford production system to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of production lines. This idea was derived from the trip to Ford factory and designed to achieve three main objectives: costs reduction, quality improvement and zero inventory (Lynch 2006). The internal triggers for a change in Toyota: The introduction of JIT The new management philosophy Just-in-time system had been applied by Ford companies in 1910. They arranged all the elements of a manufacturing system people, machines, tooling, and products in a continuous system for manufacturing the Model T automobiles designed to make huge quantities of limited number of models (Lynch, 2006). As a result, Ford became the largest car company in Japan with GM as the second largest manufacturer, together manufacturing over 90% of the vehicles manufactured in Japan. New product innovation There is a need of new product innovation because the increased fuel price has influenced the consumer buying behaviours. Therefore, there is a need for Toyota to develop fuel-efficient vehicles and hybrid vehicles (Lynch, 2004). Management and Marketing The poor management of Toyota in India has led to a lockout in India plant. The falling demand of car in Philippines has led to the Toyota plant close down because of the poor marketing expertise to help the Toyota to increase their product awareness (http://news.bbc.co.uk). Operation problem Based on the mass production paradigm of the day, economies of scale alone should have made this an impossible for the tiny Toyota. The new discovery of the technology that used by Ford in production line became a threat for Toyotas position in the market. The only way that it could survive was by finding new and flexible production methods that could help them to create more value on car manufacturing process (Lynch, 2006). Production Lines There are numerous problems with Toyota (without using the technology in its TPS) (Turban, 2008): Problem in its supply chain and its operations, and its car keeping costs mounted. Customer dissatisfaction increased due to Toyota inability to deliver cars to dealers on time. Management used computer that generated useless reports and data. Thus, management faced the problem in using the data strategically. Internal department often failed in file sharing and information exchange. Thus, it had slow down the speed of reporting. Report system that used in TPS always provides inaccurate information and information overlaps. Management failed in making decision in a given time due to the inaccurate information. Types of Change Change is the transition from one state to another. There are three types of changes which may undertake by the organisation to response to the change in external and internal environment: Incremental Change According to Hayes (2002), incremental change is a continuous adaption and modification of organisation existing strategic, process, policies and system. It is risk for an organisation adapts incremental change if the external forces of change are great because the opportunity of organisation development and expansion may be constrained by the existing systems and operations. Strategic Change Strategic change is the proactive management of change in organisation to achieve strategic objectives, which involves establish new systems, policies or procedures (Lynch, 2003). Transformational Change Transformational change may involve both strategic and incremental change because the intervention leads to alignment among the organisations strategies, design element, and culture (Johnson and Scholes, 1999). The revolutionary of Toyota is considered transformational change. The transformational change of Toyota occurs in response to external and internal disruptions, which consist of tough rivalry, internal company dynamics and so on. There disruption severely jolt organisation and push them to alter business strategy, and in turn, their mission, values, structure, systems, and procedures (Cummings and Worley, 2001): Transformational change involves altering most of the featuring of the organisation and achieving a fit among them and with the firms strategy. Today, the demand of better quality has been on the increase for the past two decades or more. Toyota has change process in production, business operation and retail system. The culture of Toyota has changed as they attempt to develop a lean organisation. Previously, the culture of Toyota is problems of production are corrected later and quality of controlled by additional inspection and containment. Now, they build a culture that stops to fix problems with the core philosophy of eliminating waste (Liker and Meier, 2006). Transformational change happens in situation experiencing huge change and uncertainty, thus, changing never finished as new structures and process will continually have to be altered to fit the changing condition. The adaption of JIT approach in TPS enable Toyota to produce different types of cars in one production line, thus, it has increase the ability to Toyota in response to the different types of customer preferences (Hino, 2006). Transformational change requires innovation and continuous learning. Toyota is considered as a learning organisation because their culture is stopping the problem and fixing the problem at that time. This typically is a continuous learning process and trying new behaviours, assessing their consequences, and modifying them. Learning occurs at all levels of the organisation from top level management to low level management (Liker and Meier, 2006). Change Management Of Toyota Change is a critical part to be managed when Toyotas globalization had started exporting the Crown to the United States. Thus, a well-organised change management process (Appendix 1: Change Management Process, p 20) needs to be carried out to avoid the problem of inefficiency works due to the lack of concentration on specific aspect (http://blogs.iht.com). According to Hayes (2002), there are several steps involved in the process of change management: 1. Recognition: Organisation has to be clearly aware of the external and internal factors (Refer to force for change above) that lead to a need of change take place within the organisation. In year 1940, Ohno Taiichi, chief engineering of Toyota found that it is difficult for tiny Toyota to compete with Ford and General Motors (GM) (the world largest car manufacturing company) in a global market. The only way that it could survive was by looking for new and flexible production method that could help them to establish their position in the global market (Lynch, 2006). Other than that, the demand of better quality of the market has indicated the problem of traditional TPS focuses on reducing per unit costs generates a mind-set of never stopping the line because higher production number theoretically equal lower cost per unit (Refer to the internal and external factors, which trigger the need of change). 2. Start of Change Process: In this stage, it involves the translating the need for change into an aspiration of change among the people, deciding who will manage the change and building a workable and effective change relationship. In order to start the change process, Ohno had visited the Ford factory because of the belief that Ford factory can provide him a way to modify the TPS. However, Ohno found that the Ford production was flawed. In response, he looked for a way to make mass production efficiency with small production volumes and at lowest costs Just-In-Time (JIT) approach (Stevenson, 2007). Thus, forces of change have encouraged Toyota to develop lean system for TPS by adopting JIT approach (Appendix 2: Attributes of Lean Organisation, p21) (Appendix 3: Traditional unit-cost-focused manufacturing, p22) (Appendix 3 (a): Lean Waste Reduction Result in Lower Total Cost, Improved Delivery, p23) (Hill, 2007). 3. Diagnosis: Then, diagnosis of reviewing the present and identifying the future for better change management is taken place. Reviewing the present state can help organisation to the need of change through diagnosis the causes of problems, current deficiencies and opportunities. Organisation may able to clearly identify what is changing and the future direction through reviewing the current state. Organisation have to imagine how and what future that business likely to achieve and then establishing objectives to accomplish it. The present state of Toyota is unable to produce the types of cars, which can meet the market needs and wants, mass production lead to high waste, and so forth. Therefore, in order to a well-entranced global company, Toyota had established the major objective of revolutionary TPS is to build up competitive advantages- affordable price and high quality and eliminate the problems of current TPS, so that Toyota can compete with other larger car manufacturer although their market share is smaller (Krajewski and et al., 2007) (Appendix 4: Toyota Production System, pg 24). 3. Prepare and plan for implementation: Subsequently, organisation need to make choices such as which method should adopt for the change and whether full or trial implementation should be run. Toyota had established 14 management principles (Appendix 5, pg 25) in its new TPS to guide its operation in various countries including UK (Liker and Meier, 2006). The 14 management principles have developed Toyotas supplier throughout the value stream. Furthermore, Toyota has established four underlying principles to TPS (Stevenson, 2007): Work should be finished specified as to content, sequence, timing and outcome. Every customer-supplier connection, both internal and external, has to be direct and specify. The people who involved in the connection, the forms and quantity of the services and goods and so forth need to clearly indicated, The flow of products and services must be simple and direct goods and services are directed and specific person or machine. Any improvement in the system must be made in accordance with the scientific method, at the lowest possible level in the organisation. 4. Implementation change: The implementation of change need to be carried out in an appropriate time. Further, organisation needs to be focused on monitoring and controlling actions to ensure everything flow smoothly. The implementation of lean system has affected the Toyotas internal linkages between its core and supporting process and its external linkages with its customers and suppliers. In the human resource department, they had emphasised on the right incentive systems that reward team work. Toyota has provided training and education for employees regarding the responsiveness of system to problems that makes the seemingly rigid system so flexible and adaptable to changing circumstance (Hino, 2006). As a consequence, Toyota developed a new HRM system inserted new program such as assimilation (process of bringing people into their new TPS culture) and training (On-the-job Training-OJT) into the recruitment system. They are adopting the OJT to encourage employees to learn their own jobs well to be able to train others (http://www.toyotauk.com). Furthermore, they exert tremendous efforts to develop people who live in their system through the kaizen program (continuous improvement) such as suggestion program, quality circles, leadership development and the like (Liker and Meier, 2006) (Appendix 6: HRM Framework TMUK, pg 27). 5. Review and consolidate: Feedback of the change process is needed for review and consolidation. Consolidation primarily refers to the unfreezing concept of Lewins model. After implementing the new TPS, Toyota had announced there is a huge reduction of costs in production process. Further, Toyota can better response to the customers needs and wants. To sum up, organisation may not able to sustain in the market if they dont manage the change process properly. Thus, managing change and the ability of perceive the change is crucial to future success. The resistance of Change However, there are some circumstances faced by Toyota when implementing the change in their operation. According to Mr. Stevenson, the employees of Toyota fear that they will be unable to implement the JIT approach in production with reach the cost-efficiency objectives, and therefore develop negative attitude toward the change or behave poorly if required to use them. Besides that, the staff of Toyota has used to the traditional production. Every day, they are doing the same job, thus, they rely on habits in doing the job. The habit of the employees has become a source of resistance to change. Furthermore, the implementations of changes require high capability workers and high skills workers. Some employees are fear of losing status, jobs, authority and other economic benefits has refused to change. It is because the changes lead to some change in the organisational structure of Toyota. Some low level workers have been promoted to become high skills workers to participate in the production lines. Some older workers are not able to cope with the changes, thus they tend to resist change. Techniques for Reducing Resistance There are various methods can be used to overcome the resistance to change: education and communication, participation, facilitation and support, negotiation, manipulation and co-optation and coercion. Among those techniques, Toyota has applied the education and communication techniques. They discuss the change with the employees to help them to see the logic of change. They try to understand the problems that faced by employees during the change process and attempt to solve it out. Apart from that, participation is undertaken by Toyota to work out the problem of resistance to change. Toyota has involved all the employees in the implementation of lean system in business operation. Toyota also provides supportive efforts such as training and development, which help the employees to adopt the change easily. (Source: Interview from Sales Executive Mr. Stevenson, R.) The Impact of Change on Toyotas Operation Production Process The external and internal factors had encouraged Toyota to build lean system in TPS a philosophy of continuous improvement and forced problem solving that drives out waste, which can help create a lean organisation. By implementing the new production system, all the stages in production must be carried out by establishing the quality and continually improving quality standard; therefore, it can meet total quality standards and delight customers. The revolutionary of the TPS has completely changed the manufacturing process in term of inventory, scheduling, quality control and so forth (Taylor and Brunt, 2002) (Appendix 7: JIT contributes competitive advantages, p 28). The revolutionary of TPS had encouraged Toyota create one-piece flow within the organisation because it helped Toyota to eliminate waste, force problem to surface, create interdependency, make problem uncomfortable and identify weak links in the flow and strengthen them (Appendix 8: Waste Reduction Model, pg 29). Thus, it can save their resources and uses it in other areas (Liker and Meier, 2006). The new TPS helped Toyota in establishing standardised process and procedures to create consistent performance and better manage their operation around the world. The revolutionary of the TPS is focusing on flexibility by basing production on demand rather than simply on capacity. According to Mr. Stevenson, Toyota has developed a flexibility and responsiveness that continues to set the standard for the industry by concentrating on small quantity and manufacturing on what customers want. With the continuous improvement, TPS has become the ideal system in todays rapidly changing global environment. TPS increases the production flexibility able to produce different models on one assembly line (http://news.bbc.co.uk). Marketing and Customer Services The old TPS is focusing on economic of scale rather than the customers needs and wants. Therefore, demand of products is low as the new competitors such as Ford and General Motors has introduced the new vehicles. The use of new TPS has changed from supporting dedicated assembly lines for one vehicle with high volume to low volume of different models of vehicles by using the same assembly line. Furthermore, the revolutionary of TPS had enabled the Toyota served all the segment of passenger car vehicle market by offering an extensive range of innovative, high quality vehicles and engines. The vehicles are designed to satisfy the varied demand of Toyotas customers, while delivering superior quality and reliability (Hino, 2006). Customer satisfaction is a top priority in today competitive market environment. Mr .Stevenson cited that the implementation of revolutionary of TPS has impacted on the business operation of Toyota Lean Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Toyota built lean CRM in response to the growing volume of customer information collected at the many touch-points during the customer lifecycle. Therefore, Toyota can capture the change in customers behaviour easily. The Customer First concept is generated from the TPS. Toyota realise that no matter how good the final product might be, it is worthless if the products dont meet customers demands and needs. Thus, Toyota Retail System (TRS) are developed to define the Toyota Way in retailing. The concept of Customer First is about putting the customer in the drivers seat before the car has even been designed. The concept has separated throughout the whole organisation. The creation of 14 principles of Toyota Way has applied to the TPS Plan Do Check Act to retail environment. The objectives of TRS are to reach efficiency in retailing and delivering best purchase and ownership experience for customers (http://www.toyota.co.jp). Technology The continuous improvement in TPS had developed the use of technology in production. The expensive fuel price had encouraged Toyota to develop hybrid engines (Lynch, 2006). Other than that, the issues of global warning has increasingly concerned by stakeholders. The development of hybrid technology enables Toyota to more emphasis on promoting environmental friendly vehicles, which can more commit to corporate social responsibilities. Traditionally, Toyota was using digital print to print large areas of solid colour without areas of banding appearing and ruining the piece. The development of new technology DocuColor enables Toyota to produce with exceptional print quality (www.xerox.com). Culture In the past, the culture of the Toyota has increased the costs of production; it is because employees keep producing the products without stopping and correcting the problem of the products. Therefore, Toyota has the intention to build up an organisation culture, where employees need to detect a problem, stop the problem immediately and solve the problem at that time (Krajewski, and et al., 2007). The improvement is made at the lowest level of the organisation so that the employees who are actually doing the work are actively involved in doing the improvement (Appendix 9: The contrastive between traditional method of correcting problem and the Toyota method of stopping to fix model, p30 ). Other than that, the implementation of lean system has fostered the culture of continuous improvement, which placed high value on performance and result. Mr. Stevenson cited that Toyota has also build up a close relationship with its suppliers, thus, Toyota only order the materials, which is needed and there is no extra storage for unused materials. Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Change In the past, Toyota is considered as a low cost producer. But, the low cost strategy unable to help Toyota to establish s strong position in the global and compete with its competitors. Therefore, the implementation of lean system in TPS with JIT approach enables Toyota to pursue both cost leadership and differentiation strategy (Morrison, 2006). Differentiation strategy can be developed through the total quality control and continuous improvement in the stages of TPS. Furthermore, the new TPS provides an opportunity for Toyota to pursue its global niche strategy Lexus, which tend to target high income level people and to increase its presence in the global market (Lynch, 2006). Other than that, new technology that invented into the TPS had lowered the cost of production through eliminating waste and making it more efficient for Toyota to change model quickly in response to changing customer taste. With the revolutionary of TPS, Toyota has dominated the top ranking for reliability and manufacturing excellence in the third party quality survey since year 2006. Based on a Consumer Report, there are 47 most reliable car models in today market. Surprisingly, 21 Toyotas models are ranking in the survey of evaluating around 1.3 million vehicles. Toyota had been voted the global most admired motor vehicles by Fortune 500 global executives in 2005 and 2006, ranking first in the industry for quality, and social responsibility (http://www.toyotauk.com). Today, Toyota has replaced GM as the worlds largest car manufacturer. The successful of Toyota is the global market is because of its sophisticated lean system in business operation: production, customer services and marketing areas. Traditionally, it takes 3 days to build up a car. With the implementation of JIT approach in TPS, it only takes 24 hours to build the car from a roll of steel to finished vehicle. In average, the construction of engine is done every 54 seconds (http://www.toyotauk.com). The whole concept of Toyota is customer first, which has result in the increasingly growth of sales in Europe in 2006. Toyota had announced its record sales in Europe for 10th year in a row the achievement of an annual sales growth of 13% and a market share of 5.8%. The development of hybrid technology was voted as the Best Eco-Friendly Engine in 1999 and 2000 (www.issolutions.co.uk). According to Mr. Stevenson, Toyota has maintained its competitive advantages without making any loss, while other large car manufacturers are making loss during the economic downturn. This has prove that the lean system in the Toyota is efficiency and effective and able to react to the external change. Conclusion The implementation of lean system in business operation in Toyota is focuses on elimination waste, zero inventories, respond to customers behaviour quickly, quality management, and continuous improvement. However, no process can ever be perfect, thus, continuous improvement is needed. The element of continuous improvement can be a competitive advantages for Toyota to sustain competitive in the global market. TPS enables Toyota to produce vehicles at low costs, but low costs in production only reduce the selling price (short-term benefit). Therefore, Toyota can endeavour to produce vehicles which contribute the long term benefits for customer fuel-efficient engines. Fuel efficient engines not only offer the customers with long-term benefit, but also cultivate the environmental protection policy. Furthermore, Toyota can research on every aspect of the vehicles and find out the way to save the customer long-term costs with the basic requirement of security and safety policy. Nowadays, global warming is becoming an issue that concerned by public. Although, Toyota had developed the new technology hybrid engines, which is a combination of petrol and electric. However, this technology is not widely developed by the Toyota because not all the vehicles are manufactured by using hybrid engine. In order to contribute to the society, this is an opportunity for Toyota to strive in research and development by using hybrid engines in producing all the vehicles. Technological changes can make well-establish product obsolete, while technology can be used as a value-added function to achieve organisational competitive (Terpstra and Sarathy, 2000) (Hill and Jones, 1998). In order to avoid from vehicles obsolete, Toyota has to always keep updating the latest technology that used in manufacturing. By using the latest technology, Toyota can be more innovative in creating and manufacturing the vehicles. The revolutionary of TPS has developed Toyota as a learning organisation learning continuously from the problem solving. Furthermore, globalisation had influenced the way Toyota conduct its business in term of marketing and customer services, production, human resource management, strategy, use of technology and its business process. The changed of company policies had led Toyota successfully passed its competitive competitors GM and Ford. The implementation of TPS enables Toyota to uses both cost leadership and differentiation strategy to compete in the global market. As a consequence, Toyota has become one of the world largest car manufacturer companies in term of low price and high quality. In conclusion, their lean system made them an innovative leader in the auto industry and served as an important cornerstone of their success. Appendix 1: Change Management Process Start of change process Diagnosis review the present and identify the future state Review and consolidate Implement change Plan and prepare for implementation Recognition of the need for change External change, problem opportunities. (Source: Hayes, J. (2002) The Theory and Practice of Change Management, 1st Edition, Palgrave Macmillan, New York) Appendix 2: Attributes of Lean Organisation Apply JIT techniques to reduce virtually all inventories. Establish system that assist employees produce a perfect part every time. Reduce space requirements by minimising the distance a part travels. Build close relationship with supplier, helping them to understand their needs and their customers needs. Educate supplier about the responsibility of helping meet customer needs. Eliminate all but value-added activities. Material handling, inspection and rework jobs are the likely target because these do not add value to product. Build the workforce by constantly improving job design, training, employee participation and commitment, and teamwor

The day for the interview came

It is a hard life living in the real world. The world doesn’t provide literally what we need; we have to work hard in order to satisfy our basic needs. Monetary considerations are included as personal pursuits in order to live fully as an individual and justify our existence here on Earth. But first, in pursuing this goal, one needs to find a job for this to be his medium in attaining the much needed financial stability.I, for one, had first-hand experiences on the hardships one faces when hunting for a well-paid job.The first step in finding work is the making of a well-organized resume and submitting this to a company or institution where you want to work for. After your credentials are assessed by their human resource department, they may call you for a job interview in order for them to have the chance to know the extent of the truthfulness of your credentials stated in your resume.The first job interview is considered one of the hardest and challenging parts of the job hu nting process.  The moment I got my first call from a clerk of a certain office, I couldn’t contain myself. I was exhilarated. My tireless efforts of submitting resumes to different companies and offices finally paid off. Looking back, I saw myself organizing the contents of my resume, encoding, printing this in multiple copies and putting these in big envelopes.Then, I was off, handing these to different offices; sometimes I walk, or ride a bus when the need arises, just so I can give all the resumes to the different offices. Then, the call came for my first job interview; my first chance to directly tell them with frankness what I am capable of.Some say that first impressions last.   So I had to choose the best clothes that I have to wear, groomed myself before the mirror a hundred times, and rehearsed the things that I would answer to pre-conceived probable questions that have to be asked. These, I hoped, would create a positive impact on the interviewers.I expected th at the interview itself would be much tensed; I experienced a mixed feeling of dread and trepidation when I opened the door towards the conference table. Lo and behold! The interview was to be done by a panel of interviewers. I did not expect this. For an eternity, I felt that I will collapse upon seeing their faces, expressionless, ready to bombard me with questions.But, to my delight, I was met with reassuring and comforting handshakes by the interviewers. I thought, at that exact moment that I’ll get through that interview, which eventually I did. The moment I answered the first question, my self-esteem suddenly rose. A set of questions came after myriad of questions, yet I was able to answer these fairly.Others questions were answered the best way possible, or so I thought. This gave me a boost to persist and carry on until the last minute is through. Until I felt that I was completely at ease, as if I am just talking to colleagues and contemporaries. As quick as it start ed, the interview ended. This left me with an awakening; I survived my first job interview.I finally came up with a conclusion that pleasure and fun are not just derived from starting to do our first job tasks; rather the sense of adventure and accomplishment can be drawn from the path or process of finding a job, such as the interview process.Life is not hard as it seems, if taken with a positive outlook. It would just be hard if we don’t try to tackle the challenges it has to offer. Once we get to overcome these, we realize that we are learning, at the same time getting nearer to our goal.

Wallace v. Jaffree - School Prayer Silent Meditation

Can public schools endorse or encourage prayer if they do so in the context of endorsing and encouraging silent meditation as well? Some Christians thought this would be a good way to smuggle official prayers back into the school day, but courts rejected their arguments and the Supreme Court found the practice unconstitutional. According to the court, such laws have a religious rather than a secular purpose, though all the justices had different opinions as to why exactly the law was invalid.​ Fast Facts: Wallace v. Jaffree Case Argued: Dec. 4, 1984Decision Issued: June 4, 1985Petitioner: George Wallace, Governor of AlabamaRespondent: Ishmael Jaffree, a parent of three students who attended school in the  Mobile County Public School SystemKey Questions: Did Alabama law violate the First Amendments Establishment Clause in endorsing or encouraging prayer in schools if it did so in the context of endorsing and encouraging silent meditation as well?Majority Decision: Justices Stevens, Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun, Powell, OConnorDissenting: Justices Rehnquist, Burger, WhiteRuling: The Supreme Court ruled that an Alabama law providing for a moment of silence was unconstitutional and that Alabamas prayer and meditation statute was not only a deviation from the states duty to maintain absolute neutrality toward religion but was an affirmative endorsement of religion, violating the First Amendment. Background Information At issue was an Alabama law requiring that each school day to  begin with a one minute period of silent meditation or voluntary prayer (the original 1978 law read-only silent meditation, but the words or voluntary prayer were added in 1981). A students parent sued to allege that this law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because it forced students to pray and basically exposed them to religious indoctrination. The District Court permitted the prayers to continue, but the Court of Appeals ruled that they were unconstitutional, so the state appealed to the Supreme Court. Court Decision With Justice Stevens writing the majority opinion, the Court decided 6-3 that the Alabama law providing for a moment of silence was unconstitutional. The important issue was whether the law was instituted for a religious purpose. Because the only evidence in the record indicated that the words or prayer had been added to the existing statute by amendment for the sole purpose of returning voluntary prayer to the public schools, the Court found that the first prong of the Lemon Test had been violated, i.e., that the statute was invalid as being entirely motivated by a purpose of advancing religion. In Justice OConnors concurring opinion, she refined the endorsement test which she first described in: The endorsement test does not preclude government from acknowledging religion or from taking religion into account in making law and policy. It does preclude government from conveying or attempting to convey a message that religion or a particular religious belief is favored or preferred. Such an endorsement infringes the religious liberty of the nonadherent, for [w]hen the power, prestige and financial support of government is placed behind a particular religious belief, the indirect coercive pressure upon religious minorities to conform to the prevailing officially approved religion is plain.At issue today is whether state moment of silence statutes in general, and Alabamas moment of silence statute in particular, embody an impermissible endorsement of prayer in public schools. [emphasis added] This fact was clear because Alabama already had a law that allowed school days to begin with a moment for silent meditation. The newer law was expanded the existing law by giving it a religious purpose. The Court characterized this legislative attempt to return prayer to the public schools as quite different from merely protecting every students right to engage in voluntary prayer during an appropriate moment of silence during the school day. Significance This decision emphasized the scrutiny the Supreme Court uses when evaluating the constitutionality of government actions. Rather than accept the argument that the inclusion of or voluntary prayer was a minor addition with little practical significance, the intentions of the legislature that passed it was enough to demonstrate its unconstitutionality. One important aspect to this case is that the authors of the majority opinion, two concurring opinions, and all three dissents agreed that a minute of silence at the beginning of each school day would be acceptable. Justice OConnors concurring opinion is notable for its effort to synthesize and refine the Courts Establishment and Free Exercise tests (see also Justices concurring opinion in ). It was here that she first articulated her reasonable observer test: The relevant issue is whether an objective observer, acquainted with the text, legislative history, and implementation of the statute, would perceive it is a state endorsement... Also notable is Justice Rehnquists dissent for its effort to redirect Establishment Clause analysis by abandoning the tripartite test, discarding any requirement that government is neutral between religion and irreligion, and confining the scope to a prohibition on establishing a national church or otherwise favoring one religious group over another. Many conservative Christians today insist that the First Amendment only prohibits the establishment of a national church and Rehnquist clearly bought into that propaganda, but the rest of the court disagreed.

Symptoms And Symptoms Of Disease Essay - 857 Words

Disease is a pathological process, that can be physical, mental, or both. In some cases, the origin of the disease is unknown. The quality that identifies any disease is based on the deviation from what is considered as the â€Å"norm†. This biological norm constitutes a healthy body with no serious damage that can affect daily life. A disease is objectified in which, health professionals are able to see, touch, measure, and/or smell symptoms that are indicative of a disease. Different diseases have different variations and intensities in the symptoms they exhibit as well as having different effects in deviation. Diseases, however, are different than both illness and sickness. Illness, is the personal experience of being unhealthy. In many cases, illness is accompanied by disease, however the disease could be unknown at the time, usually due to it being in its very early stages. Sickness is the public’s view on being unhealthy and is external. Sickness can be considered as a social role, or even a status, that is handed to a person considered as â€Å"sick†. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a pathological disease that affects the physical wellbeing of a person, and as a result could even further develop to AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). It has no age boundaries and infects children and adults alike. This virus destroys your immune system and, furthermore, affects every day practises and has many symptoms that are visible for medical professionals to examine. HIV isShow MoreRelatedSymptoms And Symptoms Of Diseases1589 Words   |  7 Pagesneurology. I wanted to study a predominant disease that ails society which is malaria. I know that malaria affects thousands in many unfortunate countries and has afflicted many children and adults. Malaria is a disease carried by vectors, usually mosquitos, that are mostly predominate in Africa and has many different symptoms ranging from the mild (coughing or chills) to serious (cerebral malaria or acute respiratory distress syndrome). This far range of symptoms can affect anyone, bu t the most at riskRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of A Disease Essay1485 Words   |  6 Pagesgood hygiene to lessen the chances of infection. A disease is a disorder of a breakdown or malfunction within the mind or body which can ultimately lead to the departure from good health. It can be a disorder of a certain tissue or organ, or it could be many causes which can sometimes be described as Multifactorial. Signs and symptoms that are seen as physical, mental or both can be known as characteristics of disease. Acute disease is a type of disease that has a sudden onset with sudden rapid changesRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Infectious Diseases1680 Words   |  7 Pagesinfectious disease Infectious disease are diseases or illnesses caused by micro-organisms that become harmful in the body, these micro-organisms are called pathogens. Pathogens are any organism that cause disease, these can include bacteria, viruses and fungi. Not all the micro-organisms mentioned above are harmful to the body, although, under certain conditions such as an immunocompromised individual or the age of a person, can produce an onset of signs and symptoms of an infectious disease. InfectiousRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Lyme Disease755 Words   |  4 PagesLyme disease is a bacterial illness that is transfused to humans via a bite from a tick infected with the disease. (Ticks are scientifically classified as Arachnida, a specific classification that also includes spiders.) The most common ticks known to carry Lyme disease are the Deer Tick and the Western Black-Legged Tick. The first manifestation of an infection is typically a rash, which may appear to resemble a bull s eye. The p roliferation of the infection progressively brings on symptoms thatRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Alzheimer Disease1176 Words   |  5 PagesAlzheimer disease What is Alzheimer disease? Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia in the United States. It usually starts with recent memory loss – then progresses to forgetting where you are, familiar faces and names. Eventually, the disease continues to progress and patients develop impaired mobility, difficulty swallowing, and inability to care for themselves. Alzheimer disease is a major cause of disability and death in the United States. Due to the importance of this conditionRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of The Heart Disease1156 Words   |  5 Pages Women and the symptoms they experience before having an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has had varying and unpredictable symptoms for decades. Women experience a range of symptoms compared to men who usually report classic symptoms such as chest pain. Though we know most of the symptoms men have preceding an AMI, symptoms experienced by women have not been explored as thoroughly. AMI symptoms have been difficult to identify in women, which has contributed to their misdiagnosis’ and uncertaintiesRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Heart Disease1175 Words   |  5 PagesHeart disease is common among dogs - almost as common as it is in humans. If you own a dog, and you have some concerns about your dog s health, it is important to understand what type of heart disease complications your dog may experience, especially in response to infection, illness, diet, and lack of exercise. For many dogs the symptoms and complications of heart disease are similar to what you would expect to see in human symptoms. Heart disease in dog s can be attributed to congenital complicationsRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Alzheimer s Disease1642 Words   |  7 Pages Abstract Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder when brain cells degenerate and die. Alzheimer’s dieses destroys the patient’s memory within time. The mental functions of the brain also get destroyed when a person gets Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease is most commonly seen when the patient is sixty to seventy years old. In this research paper the reader will learn about the signs and symptoms, causes, course of disease, outcome and secondary diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis and survivalRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Parkinson s Disease Essay831 Words   |  4 PagesParkinson Disease by Melissa Green Topical Bibliography In partial fulfillment of the writing requirement for Anatomy and Physiology 304 and the Department of Speech-Language Pathology SUNY Buffalo State Fall 2016 Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor symptoms or tremors, rigidity, (bradykinesia) or slowness of movement and posture instability. Parkinson’s involves the malfunction and death of vital nerve cells in theRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Krabbe s Disease968 Words   |  4 PagesKrabbe’s disease has many signs and symptoms. There are three stages of this condition in infantile form. Stage 1: The infant is seemingly normal and healthy for the first couple months after birth. However during early onset of this disease, the child has signs of incoordination, vomiting, irritability, unexplained fevers and stiff posture. Initial symptoms that may occur are seizures (Wenger 2000). There is slight developmental regression and behavioral abnormalities, in particular, displaying